Please be sharp about syringes and sharps

Multiple sclerosis warriors know plenty about injections. Most of us are skilled and experienced in administering shots, especially to ourselves.

Personally, I have performed injections (under veterinary supervision) on cats, dogs, and horses.

Those instances actually set me up to learn to give myself MS shots without much training. The nurse-tech showed up at my home, several years ago, and tried to show me how to inject a squishy rubber ball (just like the ones commonly used for diabetes self-care instruction). She suggested I practice on an orange. I told her I was ready to go right for the first shot.

So we did.

That wasn’t the tricky part. I had to learn what to do with all those used syringes and needles. We all do.

The sticky widget for in-home injections frequently seems to be needle disposal. You can’t exactly toss those things into the trash or recycle bin.

Sharps include medical lancets, needles, and syringes. State laws differ, but the disposal of these items generally must follow strict procedures. Generally, sharps must go into approved rigid plastic containers, which are usually red and marked with hazard labels.

Once filled, sharps containers must be submitted to participating registered disposal sites, such as approved pharmacies, hospitals, medical clinics, or certain hazardous materials collection spots. Some of these operations charge fees for accepting sharps containers. Others do so for free.

The idea is to keep used sharps out of circulation, so to speak.

No one wants to be poked.

Medical sharps are considered hazardous, and not just for the pokes. The main concern is biosecurity. Several infectious diseases may be spread through blood contamination, so used sharps are to be handled with great care.

This may sound somewhat obvious, and most MSers are particularly careful about such things. But some people simply don’t get the point about sharps without a bit of needling.

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Please be sharp about needles and sharps

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